TSA Forced to Lock Down Newark Terminal After Woman Who Reportedly Tested Positive for Explosives Boards Flight

At this point, many Americans find the TSA to be a needlessly invasive and alarmingly inefficient force for airline security.

Over the weekend, that impression was confirmed after the taxpayer-funded government security force let a woman who tested positive for explosive residue board a plane from Newark, New Jersey to Cleveland, Ohio, according to reports.

(Related: Congressman Behind TSA Creation Now Says 'Whole Thing a Complete Fiasco')

NJ.com has more information:

Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport was locked down for three hours Sunday, creating a huge screening backlog that forced the cancellation or delay of more than 165 flights...

[...]

Local officials of the Transportation Security Administration eventually concluded the woman [who prematurely left the security screening] had boarded a United Airlines flight to Cleveland.  But the security agency only arrived at its conclusion after the flight had landed in Cleveland at 10:45 a.m., and authorities were never able to talk to the woman or identify her by name.  [Emphasis added]

Fox 5 has video of the scene, and interviews with the passengers.  Many had to be re-booked on flights that didn't leave for several days:

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But that wasn't the only security incident in Newark on Sunday.

NJ.com adds:

At 6:30 a.m., the TSA said operations were suspended in the oversize baggage screening room, after a bag was directed onto the tarmac despite not having been completely screened. Bag screening resumed at 7:19 a.m., the TSA said. But the flagged bag, which was isolated on the tarmac, was not cleared for another two hours, after the Essex County Bomb Squad gave its okay.

Authorities have announced that the woman who tested positive for explosive residue is not a security risk, but it remains unclear why she tested positive for explosive residue.